


A Single Moment

by yanfu



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrigaminette, Dragon Kagami Tsurugi | Ryuko, Identity Reveal, Multi, Not really though, Some angst, ryuko never had her identity revealed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:35:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26485780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yanfu/pseuds/yanfu
Summary: All it takes is a single moment for your life to change forever. This was especially true for Marinette Dupain-Cheng, whose life was seemingly never free from life-changing moments.After the events of Miracle Queen, Marinette knows this is too much for her to shoulder alone. So she wants to make Ryuko a permanent holder... and she wants to tell them who she really is.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Kagami Tsurugi, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Kagami Tsurugi, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Kagami Tsurugi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 76





	A Single Moment

**Author's Note:**

> Ryuko never had her identity revealed for this, and for whatever reason she escaped from the Miracle Queen fiasco with it still firmly intact

All it takes is a single moment for your life to change forever. This was especially true for Marinette Dupain-Cheng, whose life was seemingly never free from life-changing moments. 

Helping an elderly man cross a street. 

Opening a mysterious box left on her desk.

The first time she said ‘Spots On!’

Meeting Chat Noir for the first time.

A piece of gum, a misunderstanding, and an umbrella. 

And now, she was the new Guardian. A responsibility she hadn’t been prepared to shoulder. One that came much too suddenly, Marinette suddenly felt the weight of the world and she wasn’t sure she was strong enough to hold it. No, she knew she wasn’t strong enough, at least not alone. Master Fu had warned her about the dangers of knowing each other’s identities, and Marinette had understood his reasonings before. She didn’t want to put anyone at any more risk than she had to. Even then, though, she still had doubts. She’d couldn’t say she’d never wondered just who was hiding behind Chat Noir’s mask, or that she’d never been tempted to drop her transformation in front of him. She’d respected Master Fu’s choice until now, but sitting here, staring at the Miracle Box, now dawned in the telltale spots of a ladybug, Marinette knew she had a choice to make. 

Most of her allies' identities had been compromised after the events of Miracle Queen, so the people Ladybug could call on for support had dwindled. Aside from herself, only Chat and Ryuko had gotten by with their identities still intact. With Master Fu gone, the only people who knew Chat Noir and Ladybug’s identities were the heroes themselves. 

_ What if something happened to Chat Noir’s civilian identity and Chat Noir just disappeared?  _ As the new Guardian, Tikki told her she could make that choice. And maybe, if they knew each other’s identities, they could meet out of costume and strategize. There was less of a risk of Hawkmoth catching on to them if they did it as normal teens. Then there was the fact that Hawkmoth had found a new ally in Mayura. Master Fu had always been against adding more Miraculous into the mix, but if Hawkmoth had a new ally wouldn’t it make sense for Ladybug and Chat Noir to gain a new permanent ally? 

Was it selfish of her to want to make Kagami a permanent hero? Marinette found she wanted Kagami by her side through this, but was it right to endanger her like this? And… Adrien. There was  _ something  _ happening between the three of them, wasn’t there? Or was that just wishful thinking on her part? Would it be fair to keep Adrien in the dark if she did let Longg stay with Kagami?

Marinette groaned, staring at the Miracle Box. 

‘It’s your choice now Marinette, you can do what you think is best.’ Tikki said, nuzzling Marinette’s face. Marinette’s eyes drifted to the Dragon Miraculous. She knew what she wanted, but she knew what Tikki said wasn’t entirely true. She needed to talk to Ryuko and Chat Noir.

* * *

She had called them both to a hidden rooftop she and Chat had frequented on patrols, it was nice, and out of the hustle and bustle of Paris. Kagami had somehow managed to sneak away from her home, and had met Ladybug, who once again handed her the Dragon Miraculous. Ryuko and Chat Noir looked at her expectantly. They both were aware of the change that had happened that day, and could almost feel the tension and stress that Ladybug was trying to contain. 

‘Chat Noir,’ she started ‘I’ve made a lot of choices without you, who to give the Miraculous to, who Master Fu was, and… and who I am.’ She sighed, tempted to curl into herself or run away and forget this conversation was happening. But she had made her choice, she had to follow through. She looked up to see Chat Noir’s eyes had widened, like he realized what she was about to suggest. 

‘It wasn’t right of us to keep you out of the loop. We’re partners, Chat, I should never have kept things from you.’ Marinette fought to keep her voice from shaking. 

‘M’Lady…’ Chat started, but Marinette held up her hand to stop him. If she let him talk now, if she let him tell her it was ok, she’d never be able to work up the necessary courage to do this. 

‘I want you to make this next decision with me. Becoming the Guardian is not how I expected this day to end, I didn’t expect to lose so many allies, its overwhelming, Chat. I don’t think… no, I know I can't do this on my own, Hawkmoth keeps getting stronger, and keeping secrets is getting harder every day. If she agrees to it, and if you agree,’ Ladybug turned her attention to Ryuko ‘I’d like for Ryuko to become a permanent member of our team. We need more allies, and now that I have possession of the Miracle Box, that’s a choice I can make but I don’t want to make a choice that would make either of you uncomfortable. Ryuko, you have every right to refuse, being a permanent hero is draining, it isn’t easy, and I know its a lot to a-’ She was cut off by Ryuko’s voice.

‘Ladybug, it would be my honor to fight alongside you. I’ve always admired the heroes of Paris, it would be a privilege to be by your side.’ She turned to Chat Noir. ‘If you agree, of course. I have no desire to intrude upon an already amazing partnership.’ Chat Noir smiled.

‘M’Lady, I trust your judgement on this one! I think Ryuko would a great teammate!’ Ladybug smiled.

‘Then, I guess two becomes three.’ She held out her hand for a fist bump. Ryuko and Chat Noir wasted no time in reciprocating.

‘Pound it!’ they said in unison. The smile quickly slipped from Ladybug’s face.

‘There’s… one more thing. Like I said, I’m the new Guardian. With Master Fu gone, that means that the only people who know who Chat Noir and Ladybug are… well, us. So I’d like,’ she took a deep breath. ‘I’d like to tell you who I am, just in case.’ Chat Noir gaped at her for a moment before jumping in.

‘Are you sure? You’ve always been so against us knowing.’

‘I know but, everything changed so quickly, and I’m scared, Chat. What if I just disappear one day and you have no way of knowing if something happened to me? What if something happened to  _ you?  _ Or Ryuko? You two have the same secrets to hide as I do, maybe it could be more dangerous, but we can’t waste time with what-ifs anymore. I want you to know.’ She was absolutely sure about this. 

‘Are you certain you want me here?’ Ryuko asked hesitantly. Ladybug nodded. 

‘I trust you, both of you, with my life.’ Chat Noir smiled. 

‘Then I want you to know mine, too.’

“You are both already aware of who I am,’ Ryuko said ‘but I find that I do not really mind.’ 

Before she could talk herself out of it, Marinette steeled herself and dropped her transformation.

‘Spots Off.’ In a flash of light, Ladybug was gone, and Marinette stood in her place. She fidgeted uncomfortably for a minute before she looked up and met the wide eyes of her team. For a brief, terrifying moment, she couldn’t help but think she had just made the biggest mistake of her life. But she was quickly pulled out of her thoughts when she felt a hand grip hers. 

Ryuko seemed to have recovered from the information first. She smiled softly at Marinette. 

‘Of course it’s you, Marinette. I don’t know how i didn’t see it before, but I truly can think of no one more fitting to be Ladybug, than you.’ she said, tightening her grip on Marinette’s hand, grounding her in the moment. Chat Noir still seemed to be in a shock, before he slowly moved forward, as if he were afraid any sudden movements would break the illusion. 

‘Its you,’ he whispered ‘of course… it’s always been you.’ he said, louder this time, as he reached to grab Marinette’s free hand. Marinette looked at both of them, relief flooding over her. They weren’t disappointed, they weren’t running away, they were here, both warming her hands. 

‘Claws In.’ she heard Chat Noir say, before he was bathed in light. And suddenly, it wasn’t Chat Noir holding her hand, it was  _ Adrien.  _ Marinette couldn’t find any words. Instead she felt tears begin to run down her face. Her power may rely on luck, but she couldn’t imagine how she had ever gotten so lucky. Her team, the people she cared about the most in the world, they were all here wrapped in a beautiful package. 

‘Hey, don’t cry princess, we’re here.’ Adrien said, as he wiped a tear from her eye. It was a bit hypocritical, she thought, when he was crying just as much as she was. Marinette hadn’t noticed, but Kagami had also transformed back, and the three of them were no longer superheroes. They were just 3 normal teenagers with the weight of the world on their shoulders. The three of them had shifted to sitting on the ground at some point, all of them wrapped up in each other. It felt safe and warm.Marinette knew in her heart that what she felt for these two went beyond friendship, and she could see now that what she felt for Adrien was much deeper than a crush, and from the way they had looked at her just moments before, she couldn’t help but hope that she wasn’t the only one feeling this way. The three could discuss later what exactly their relationship status was with each other later, but right now it didn’t really matter. Right now, they were home, and Marinette felt that the world didn’t feel quite so heavy when they were all together. 

All it takes is a moment for your life to change forever. But Marinette was thankful for this one, and all the moments that would come after. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, this is my first time writing for ML, I hope I did ok! I just started getting back into it and while I do think the writing is quite messy, I do still love the characters. Also I have a soft spot for poly ships, and Adrigaminette really stole my heart. Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
